A homemade backyard teepee is a great way to get the kids out in the garden and keep them occupied for hours.
You will need:
• A sheet of material (this can be a painter’s dropsheet or an old sheet from your linen cupboard).
• Six 6ft bamboo rods (available from hardware stores and garden centres)
• Some strong, large rubber bands
• 6 plastic shower curtain rings
• Needle and thread
• Eyelet/grommet kit, you will need 12 grommets (see image in gallery above)
• 6 x 70cm strips of ribbon (at least 3cm wide)
• Hammer
• Thick black texta/marker
Instructions: 1. Cut your sheet of material
into a semi-circle with 2.75m diameter. Cut a small semi-circle at the
base of the large semi-circle (see fig 1 in gallery above). 2. At this point you may like
to paint your sheet or decorate it with buttons, ribbons and sequins.
This is a great way to let the kids create their own design for the
teepee. 3. Group the bamboo rods
together and secure with rubber bands 20-30cm from the end of the rods.
Hold them vertically and spread them out evenly to form a teepee shape
(fig 2). 4. Drape your fabric over the
bamboo rods with the smaller semi-circle at the top of the teepee. The
two ends of the semi-circle should overlap slightly at the top. 5. Use the black texta to mark
out the holes on the fabric where the ribbon will be threaded through.
To do this, mark a dot 2-3 inches from the top of the fabric, on either
side of each of the bamboo rods*. Also, place a mark on the inside of
the fabric, at each bamboo rod, approximately 20-30cm from the bottom.
This is where you will attach the shower curtain rings. 6. Remove the fabric and follow the instructions in the eyelet kit to insert the grommets and create the holes. 7. Use the needle and thread to fasten the shower curtain rings on the inside of the fabric. 8. Thread the rods through the
shower curtain rings and drape the fabric back over the bamboo rods so
the eyelets sit either side of the rods. Thread the ribbon through the
holes, from the outside, around the rod on the inside and back through
the hole on the other side of the rod (fig 3). Tie the ends of ribbons
around the top of the teepee. 9. Fill your teepee with blankets and pillows.
